Octodad: Dadliest Catch - PChttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/octodad_dadliest_catch/b/pc/default.aspxen-USTelligent Community 1.5.134.12297 (Build: 5.5.134.12297)Clever Humor With Diminishing Returnshttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/octodad_dadliest_catch/b/pc/archive/2014/01/31/clever-humor-with-diminishing-returns.aspxFri, 31 Jan 2014 22:23:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6555537Matt Miller0<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/younghorses/octodad/room610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>Octodad has no shortage of wit, creativity, or laughs. As the story of an octopus masquerading as a human, Octodad starts off strong with a clear focus on the crazy premise, and gameplay that is simple enough to showcase the wacky physics and fun of knocking lamps around the room and flinging axes across the yard. It&rsquo;s a smart, innovative testbed for interactions, but the more it tries to be a game filled with challenging objectives and boss fights, the more Octodad reveals that underneath the suit, there&rsquo;s not much to get excited about.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I was instantly charmed by Octodad and his flailing tentacles. An opening level set at the poor guy&rsquo;s wedding, and a subsequent morning at home with his family, are both filled with playful quips from the characters. Beneath the amusing surface is a thoughtful theme about the way we all grow up and have to start going through the motions of being an adult, even when we don&rsquo;t always know what we&rsquo;re doing.&nbsp;</p>
<p>At first, the gameplay that accompanies the inventive concept is haphazard, but entertaining. Moving Octodad&rsquo;s appendages with any clear purpose is an exercise in frustration, and that&rsquo;s just fine when the tasks are simple. Sure, it&rsquo;s a little tricky to maneuver his tentacles into place so he can grill those hamburgers for his kids, but with a little practice, the job gets done. The tasks become more difficult as you progress, but unlike most games, your precision and understanding of the controls never improve. By the time you&rsquo;re trying to climb obstacle-laden towers, fleeing from an angry chef, or sneaking past wary sailors, the once-amusing control mechanics are infuriating.&nbsp;</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p>
<p>The later levels are dominated by ill-advised stealth sequences, frustrating camera angles, and complex level geometries which are too easy to get stuck on. It&rsquo;s all capped off by one of the most tedious boss battles I&rsquo;ve had the misfortune to encounter in recent years. The jokes just don&rsquo;t bring the same chuckles when you&rsquo;ve been cursing for minutes about futilely trying to climb an escalator that&rsquo;s going the wrong way. These later sequences demand a level of precision that the purposefully slippery controls can&rsquo;t accommodate.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Octodad supports multiple control inputs, which is good, because the keyboard/mouse setup is a mess &ndash; I strongly recommend a 360 controller or other gamepad. Young Horses has included an amusing way to play cooperatively by assigning different players to different appendages &ndash; a good fit for folks considering a playthrough with the family. Octodad also offers some fun extras scattered throughout, like a secret 2D level and a collection of hidden ties, but many of the tasks involved in completing these optional sections are more trouble than they&rsquo;re worth. Engaged players will also want to check out the included level editor, and the workshop mode that lets you explore other users&rsquo; creations. It pains me to level a harsh judgment against a game that&rsquo;s trying something new and innovative, but Octodad doesn&rsquo;t balance the frustration with the funny.&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=6555537" width="1" height="1">PCyoung horsesOctodad: Dadliest CatchActionReviewimpulse252Octodad: Dadliest Catch Gets Release Datehttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/octodad_dadliest_catch/b/pc/archive/2014/01/17/octodad-dadliest-catch-gets-release-date.aspxFri, 17 Jan 2014 18:20:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:6523824Matt Bertz31http://www.gameinformer.com/games/octodad_dadliest_catch/b/pc/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=6523824http://www.gameinformer.com/games/octodad_dadliest_catch/b/pc/archive/2014/01/17/octodad-dadliest-catch-gets-release-date.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/younghorses/octodad/Octodad610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>You won&#39;t have to wait too long to bumble your way through awkward social situations as an octopus posing as an everyman. </p>
<p>We&#39;ve had our eye on Octodad: Dadliest Catch for some time, encouraging gamers to keep it on their radar as one of the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/01/03/25-indie-games-to-watch-in-2014.aspx">25 indie games to watch in 2014</a>. Today Young Horses <a target="_blank" href="http://www.octodadgame.com/release-date-announcement-and-new-trailer/">announced</a> its colorful indie game is coming to PC, Mac, and Linux on January 30. This digital title will be available via Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store.</p>
<p>To commemorate this milestone, the developer put together a trailer that fills in some of the story. Watch Octodad as he tries to mow the lawn, play air hockey, grocery shop, and make some coffee:&nbsp;</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p>
<p>Octodad: Dadliest Catch is slated to appear on PlayStation 4 later this year as well.&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=6523824" width="1" height="1">PCyoung horsesOctodad: Dadliest CatchActionLinuxMacMacintoshMarrying The Octopus In Octodad: Dadliest Catchhttp://www.gameinformer.com/games/octodad_dadliest_catch/b/pc/archive/2013/07/18/marrying-the-octopus-in-octodad-dadliest-catch.aspxThu, 18 Jul 2013 08:14:00 GMT79ef0c18-1c65-4225-984f-fdaeab0f0862:3316030Ben Reeves0http://www.gameinformer.com/games/octodad_dadliest_catch/b/pc/rsscomments.aspx?WeblogPostID=3316030http://www.gameinformer.com/games/octodad_dadliest_catch/b/pc/archive/2013/07/18/marrying-the-octopus-in-octodad-dadliest-catch.aspx#comments<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/sony/indie/octodad/wedding610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" border="0" alt="" /></p>
<p>What&#39;s it like being an octopus who&#39;s pretending to be a human? Not easy. Octodad is a complete bear to control, and yet it&#39;s an absolute blast to play. </p>
<p>You might already be familiar with Octodad. The original freeware game from a group of DePaul University students has already amassed a plethora of humorous YouTube walkthroughs showing people muddle their way through the game&#39;s janky controls. The game is about an Octopus who decides to find out what life is like above water, and ends of living a lie as he tries to pass himself off as human. Unfortunately for him, moving around like a normal human is challenging for a sea creature with eight legs. However, these awkward movements are the best part about Octodad. Watching people clumsily knock over every object in the room is hilarious in itself. The game&rsquo;s exaggerated physics prove equally humorous even when you&rsquo;re the one fighting the alien controls.</p>
<p>Recently, Sony announced that it would bring Octodad to the PS4, and we got our hands on the latest build of the game during this year&rsquo;s San Diego Comic Con. The goal of our demo was simple: get ready for our wedding. However, we caused more property damage than a bull in a china shop trying to fasten our tie with our balloon-animal limbs. </p>
<p>Two of the shoulder buttons control Octodad&rsquo;s &ldquo;legs.&rdquo; However, pressing these buttons only prepares the limb to move. After you activate his legs, you still have to move them around the environment using the joysticks. This is where things tend to get messy. I knocked over a vase, overturned a table filled with presents, and got my leg stuck in a chair just trying to get to the other side of the room. Another shoulder button activates his arm, allowing you to open doors and grab objects. The controls take some getting used to, but their unintuitive natures makes your onscreen actions all the more humorous. </p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p>
<p>It would be easy to charge across a room by plowing forward with the sticks, but the real challenge of Octodad comes from trying to conceal your identity. Octodad doesn&rsquo;t want the world to know that he belongs in the ocean, and the more unusual his behavior, the more attention he&rsquo;ll draw to himself. This makes Octodad one of the strangest stealth games I&rsquo;ve ever played. Many of Octodad&rsquo;s challenges are fairly mundane tasks such as buying apples from a grocery store; just try to grab one without knocking over the whole stand.</p>
<p>I&rsquo;ve seen videos of Octodad for some time, but this was the first time I got my hands on a version of the game. The PS4 version should prove entertaining for old fans of the game, and developer Young Horses, Inc. says they&rsquo;ve come up with several ways to keep the gameplay fresh even after players have progressed through the early hours of the game. That&#39;s almost hard to believe, but I&#39;m interested to see how the team pulls that off when Octodad comes out later this year.</p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=3316030" width="1" height="1">sonyPCdadliest catchyoung horsesps4Octodad: Dadliest CatchPreviewActionoctodad